Santorum endorses ...

5/3/12 4:16 PM EDT

... in the Nebraska GOP Senate primary!

The former presidential candidate put out a statement of support this afternoon for state Attorney General Jon Bruning, the establishment-backed (and Club for Growth-opposed) contender for the Republican nomination.

"Jon Bruning is a trusted conservative who is unapologetically pro-life, will fight to reduce the size of the federal government and will ensure that the government spends less and does not tax more. And there is no question that Jon is the strongest conservative candidate to defeat Bob Kerrey in November and help Republicans take back the Senate," Santorum said.

This is, of course, not the Santorum endorsement folks are waiting for, though it is an early test of his relevance after the end of the Republican presidential primary.

Readers may recall that Kerrey, the former Democratic senator running for Nebraska's open seat, once quipped "Santorum" was "Latin for a--hole."